Ley 10/2025: Spain’s new complaints rules for payment firms
Spain rewrote its financial complaints rules at the end of 2025, and the adaptation window closes on 28 December 2026. Ley 10/2025, the general law on customer-service quality, also rewrote the complaints section of Ley 44/2002 and repealed the core of Orden ECO/734/2004. For payment and e-money institutions the result is a shorter one-month clock for general complaints, a mandatory customer-service department that now expressly covers firms passporting under freedom of services, new channel and accessibility rules, and a faster route to the Banco de España. This piece maps what changed and what to fix before the deadline.
1. What Ley 10/2025 did
Ley 10/2025, de 26 de diciembre, por la que se regulan los servicios de atención a la clientela, was published in the BOE on 27 December 2025 and entered into force on 28 December 2025. Its main body sets minimum quality levels for customer service in essential services and large companies. Financial services are listed in Article 2(1)(e), but Article 2(5) says they remain governed by their sectoral rules, with the new law applying only as a supplement. Article 2(5) also switches off, for the financial sector, Article 13(8) and Articles 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 — the satisfaction-survey, consumer-association, annual evaluation, external audit and sanctions provisions. Supervision stays with the sectoral authorities.
The change that matters for payment firms is in the second final provision. It replaces Articles 29 to 31 of Ley 44/2002, de Medidas de Reforma del Sistema Financiero, and moves most of the complaints procedure from ministerial order into statute. The repeal provision removes Articles 6 and 9 to 16 of Orden ECO/734/2004, plus any lower-ranking rule that conflicts with the law. Under the transitional provision, firms in scope have twelve months from entry into force to adapt — that is, until 28 December 2026.
2. Who must have a customer-service department
New Article 29(1) of Ley 44/2002 lists the entities that must handle and resolve complaints through a customer-service department or service (departamento o servicio de atención a la clientela). For fintech readers the relevant entries are:
- payment institutions (entidades de pago) and the entities covered by Articles 14 and 15 of Real Decreto-ley 19/2018;
- e-money institutions (entidades de dinero electrónico);
- investment firms, credit institutions and non-bank lenders;
- financial entities operating in Spain under freedom to provide services;
- Spanish branches of any of the listed entities established in another state.
Group entities may share a single department. Appointing a Defensor de la Clientela — an independent expert or body — remains optional; if appointed, its decisions in favour of the customer bind the firm.
3. What the department must look like
Article 29 now writes the organisational rules into the law itself. The department must be separate from commercial and operational units, decide autonomously and avoid conflicts of interest, taking into account supervisory guidance. It may not use a complaint to sell products unless the offer is directly linked to resolving it and improves the customer’s terms. Staff need specific training, including on vulnerable customers, people with disabilities and older customers.
- Service. Free, effective, universally accessible and available during commercial hours, with 24/7 cover where a continuous service requires it.
- Channels. In-person, telephone or electronic channels, under a principle of personalised service that considers age, disability, digital skills and place of residence.
- Humans. Automated answering may never be the only channel; telephone or electronic service must offer a human operator, with a supervisor above.
- Cost. A phone line may not cost more than a standard geographic or mobile call, and free numbers may not redirect to paid ones.
- Publication. Each office and the website must show, in an easy-to-find section: the department and any Defensor with postal and e-mail addresses; the duty to resolve within one month (or the payment-services clock); channels; how complaints are logged and tracked; how decisions are sent; the internal rules (reglamento de funcionamiento); the transparency rules; and opening hours.
4. The procedure and its clocks
Articles 29 bis to 29 septies set the procedure. Complaints may be filed in person or by a representative, on paper or electronically, at the department, the Defensor, any office, any online customer-service application, or a dedicated e-mail address that every firm must enable. They may not be filed by telephone.
| Step | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge | Written acknowledgement on a durable medium with content, date and time, plus an identification key the customer uses to track the case | Art. 29 quater(1) |
| Incomplete file | Ask for completion within 10 calendar days; the clock is suspended meanwhile | Art. 29 quater(2) |
| Inadmissibility | Only on the listed grounds, including matters before a court or arbitrator, repeated complaints, and facts older than five years; reasoned notice and 10 calendar days for the customer’s comments | Art. 29 quater(3)-(4) |
| Decide — general | One month from filing | Arts. 29 bis(3), 29 septies(1) |
| Decide — payment services | The Article 69 RDL 19/2018 clock: 15 business days, extendable to one month in exceptional cases with a holding reply | Arts. 29 bis(3), 29 septies(1) |
| Notify | Within 10 calendar days of the decision, in writing or on a durable medium, in the language of the complaint | Art. 29 septies(3)-(4) |
The decision must be reasoned, answer every point raised, and explain any departure from earlier similar decisions. A decision against the customer must tell them they can go to the claims services of the Banco de España, the CNMV or the DGSFP, and how. Under the former Order, the general deadline was two months.
5. Escalation to the Banco de España
New Article 30(3) of Ley 44/2002 sets the rules the ministerial procedure must follow. A customer must show a prior written complaint to the firm, and that one month has passed without a decision, or that the complaint was rejected. The supervisor’s claims service has a maximum of 90 calendar days to resolve. If its report goes against the firm, the firm must say within one month whether it has rectified voluntarily. The Banco de España, CNMV and DGSFP publish an annual report that includes the entities complained about and whether each report was favourable.
The procedural order for the Banco de España claims service, Orden ECC/2502/2012, was written around a two-month wait and a four-month resolution period. Check the version in force: where it still conflicts with the statute, the repeal clause of Ley 10/2025 removes the conflicting lower-ranking rule.
6. Worked scenarios
Scenario 1 — a passported EMI with chat-only support. Facts: an EMI authorised in another member state serves Spanish customers under freedom of services; complaints arrive through an in-app chatbot. Rule: Article 29(1) now names freedom-of-services entities; automated service may not be the only channel; a dedicated complaints e-mail address is mandatory. What compliance does: designates the group complaints team as the Spanish customer-service department, adds a “talk to a person” route from the bot’s first screen, opens the e-mail address, publishes the website section with the eight items, and adopts a Spanish reglamento de funcionamiento. Outcome: a documented department ready before 28 December 2026.
Scenario 2 — an unauthorised card payment. Facts: a Spanish customer complains about a card payment they did not make. Rule: payment services follow Article 69 RDL 19/2018, not the one-month general clock. What compliance does: sends the acknowledgement and key the same day, answers within 15 business days or sends a reasoned holding reply and closes within one month, and, if rejecting, names the Banco de España claims service. Outcome: the file closes before the customer’s one-month escalation right arises.
Scenario 3 — a fee complaint without documents. Facts: a customer complains about an account-closure fee but gives no account details. Rule: Article 29 quater(2) allows a 10-calendar-day request to complete the file, which suspends the clock. What compliance does: sends the request with a warning that the file will be archived; the customer replies on day 6; the one-month clock resumes and the decision issues on day 34 from filing. Outcome: on time, because the six days are excluded — and the request is logged as evidence.
7. FAQ
When must firms comply with Ley 10/2025?
The law entered into force on 28 December 2025. The transitional provision gives firms in scope twelve months to adapt their customer-service arrangements, to 28 December 2026.
Is Orden ECO/734/2004 repealed?
In part. Articles 6 and 9 to 16 are repealed, along with any provision that conflicts with the law. The remaining articles, including the annual report to the board in Article 17, still apply where consistent.
What is the new deadline to resolve a complaint?
One month from filing for general complaints. For payment services, the Article 69 RDL 19/2018 clock applies: 15 business days, or up to one month in exceptional cases with a holding reply.
Do firms under freedom of services need a Spanish department?
They must handle and resolve complaints through a customer-service department or service. A group-wide department is allowed; it must meet the Spanish rules for Spanish customers.
Can customers complain by phone?
A phone line can be a customer-service channel, but a formal complaint cannot be filed by telephone under Article 29 ter. It must be on paper or electronic.
Do the audit and annual evaluation rules apply to payment firms?
No. Article 2(5) excludes Articles 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 of Ley 10/2025 for the financial sector, so the external audit and evaluation system do not apply.
8. What to do, today
- Confirm that your Spanish activity — licence, branch or freedom of services — puts you in Article 29(1).
- Move the general complaint clock from two months to one month, and keep the separate payment-services clock.
- Enable a dedicated complaints e-mail address and the acknowledgement-plus-key step.
- Give every automated channel a route to a human, and check phone-line costs.
- Publish the website section with all eight items and update the reglamento de funcionamiento.
- Update decision templates: reasons for every point, the supervisor reference, notification within 10 days.
- Calendar 28 December 2026 and record the gap analysis for your board.
Related: Conduct complaints reporting in Spain · Complaints reporting compared across the EU · Spain reporting calendar
